Variable-pitch wire crimping means



Nov. 4, 1969 M. J. DE WULF VARIABLE-PITCH WIRE CRIMPI NG MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 18. 1967 INVENTOR. MAURICE J. DEWULF A f farney Nov. 4, 1969 M. J. DE WULF 3,476,157

VARIABLE-PIT H WIRE C IMPING' MEANS MAYA! W WA United States Patent Office 3,476,157 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 3,476,157 VARIABLE-PITCH WIRE CRIMPING MEANS Maurice J. De Wulf, Lake Bluff, Ill., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 18, 1967, Ser. N0. 668,607 Int. Cl. B21f 1/04; B21d 13/04 US. Cl. 140-105 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of wire products and is especially suitable for crimping wire to be used as the connecting cross wires of an equalized conveyor belt.

As is well known, it is common to manufacture conveyor belts, as shown in FIGURE 5, with alternately left hand and right hand helically formed pickets X which are fastened together with cross wires or rods Y which are crimped in a pattern to match the pitch of the pickets X. The crimps in the cross wires are obtained by passing the wire through a wire straightener and then between two crimping wheels which are provided with meshing teeth which engage and impart a crimp to the wire. For any set of conditions, it is necessary from time to time to change the pitch of the teeth of the crimping wheels in order to maintain the accuracy of the pitch desired in the crimped wire.

Prior to my invention, when it is was desired to change the pitch of the wheel teeth, it was done by grinding down the teeth or removing the teeth and resetting them in their respective wheels at the required elevation. This brought about a difference in the distance from the center of each wheel to the extremities of the teeth thereon so that a difference in the pitch of the crimped wire resulted. This operation was expensive and time consuming and frequently created serious production problems.

It is, accordingly, the primary object of my invention to provide wire crimping apparatus having a pair of toothed wheels mounted one on each of two parallel shafts which wheels may be easily and quickly adjusted to vary the pitch being produced in a wire by the wheels.

It is a more specialized object of my invention to pro vide the wheels of a wire crimping apparatus with teeth having their extremities lying in a frusto-conical surface; the teeth extremities of the opposed crimping .wheels being tapered in opposite directions so that variation in pitch may be obtained by adjusting the crimping wheels relative to each other longitudinally along their respective shafts.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a wire crimping apparatus embodying the variable-pitch crimping means of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detailed view of the meshing toothed-peripheral portions of the crimping wheels shown in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a partial plan view of an equalized conveyor belt having crimped connecting cross wires.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral 2 designates a wire straightener of conventional design for straightening a wire W prior to its passing between a pair of crimping wheels 4 and 6 each of which is provided with crimping teeth 44 spaced around its periphery. A guide 7 is provided adjacent the exit end of the nip between wheels 4 and 6. Upper crimping wheel 4 is mounted on a stub shaft 8 and has a pin 10 projecting from its outer face which is received in a yoke 12. The pin 10 is adjustably engaged by opposed screws 14 which are threaded through opposite legs of the yoke 12 and engage opposite sides of the pin 10. The yoke is fixedly mounted on an extension of the shaft 8 by means of a key 16 and a cap screw 18 which is threaded into the end of the shaft 8. With this arrangement the wheel rotates along with the shaft 8 when it is driven. The purpose of the pin 10 and the yoke 12 together with the screws 14 is to permit adjustment of the wheel 4 around the shaft 8 relative to the lower crimping wheel 6 so as to insure proper meshing of the teeth 44 of the wheels.

The lower crimping wheel 6 is mounted on a stub shaft 20 for rotation therewith by means of a key 22 and a cap screw 23. Both crimping wheels are driven synchronously, in the directions indicated by arrows B, by means of a driving gear 24 mounted on a power shaft 26. The driving gear 24 is in mesh with a pinion gear 28 keyed to shaft 8 and also with a lower gear 30 which in turn is in mesh with a pinion gear 32 keyed to the shaft 20. Thus, gears 24 and 30, rotating in the directions indicated by arrows C, drive the crimping wheels 4 and 6, respectively.

The lower gear 30 is fixedly mounted on a stub shaft 34. An elongated plate 36 extends between and is slidably mounted at its ends on the stub shaft 8 and the power shaft 26 while a similar elongated plate 38 extends between and is slidably mounted at its ends on the stub shaft 20 and the stub shaft 34. The plates 36 and 38 have aligned stud elements 40 projecting therefrom which threadingly receive a screw shaft 42 whereby the crimping wheels 4 and 6 can be adjusted toward and away from each other, as indicated by arrows A, to vary the depth of the crimp being imparted thereby. The plates 36 and 38 pivot about shafts 26 and 34 when the screw shaft 42 is rotated.

The extremities 46 of the teeth 44 of each of the wheels 4 and 6 lie in a frusto-conical surface. The surface in which the teeth extremities of the wheel 4 lie tapers in a direction opposite to that of the surface in which the teeth extremities of the wheel 6 lie. The pitch generated by the ends of the tooth extremities furthest from the centers of the shafts on which the respective wheels are mounted is greater than the pitch generated by the ends of the tooth extremities nearest the centers of the shafts.

In operation, to vary the pitch being imparted by the crimping wheels 4 and 6 to the wire W, the wheels are adjusted longitudinally along their respective shafts, relative to the fixed path of the wire, by means of shims 48 so as to vary the distance from the center of the wheel to the extremities of its respective teeth. For example, as best shown in FIGURE 3, the wheels 4 and 6 can be adjusted to the broken-line position by removing the shim 48 from the shaft 8 and applying it to the shaft 20* adjacent the shim 48 already there. In this adjusted position, the pitch being imparted to the wire W, the path of which is fixed, will be varied.

While I have shown but one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a wire-crimping apparatus including a pair of parallel shafts, a pair of toothed wheels mounted one on each shaft so that the teeth of the two wheels mesh effectively to crimp a wire passed therebetween, the improvement therewith comprising the teeth of each wheel having extremities lying in a frusto-conical surface, and the surface in which the teeth extremities of one wheel lie tapering in a direction opposite that of the surface in which the teeth extremities of the other wheel lie, the tapering teeth extremities of said one wheel being substantially parallel with the tapering teeth extremities of said other wheel.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 in which each of said wheels is longitudinally adjustable along its respective shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Prouty 72247 Natzke 72247 Smith 140105 Creighton 14010S Guess 140l05 US. Cl. X.R. 

